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Press
Release: Potato Council Ltd
CIPC stewardship group urges industry vigilance
July 22, 2008: Use sprout suppressants responsibly or risk losing them. That was the message to growers attending the Potato Council’s Storage day on Wednesday, July 16 near Lincoln. Potato Council has issued a new guide and a new checklist to help British growers ensure they stick to new limits on Chlorpropham (CIPC) usage.
“We were close to losing CIPC altogether,” Potato Council R&D director Mike Storey explained to growers attending the event. “Every potato grower and store manager must do their bit to ensure we can continue to use this vital sprout suppressant. We will not have a second chance.”
An industry-wide stewardship group reached an agreement with the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) earlier this year to allow CIPC use to continue. The ACP required that a maximum total dose over the season of 36 grammes of active ingredient per tonne of treated crop must not be exceeded on potatoes destined for the fresh market. The stewardship group established a limit of 63.75 g/tonne for processed potatoes, including those used for peeling. “The stewardship group’s focus has been to ensure the potato industry is prepared and can meet the requirements set by ACP.”
Dr Storey explained to growers how the CIPC stewardship group is now delivering its action plan and that new tools are being issued to growers to help them manage their sprout suppressant applications.
Potato Council technologist, Adrian Briddon introduced the new guide, Improving the use of CIPC in bulk stores, one of the initial outputs of the plan. “This shows store managers how better sprout control can be achieved by low-speed recirculation of CIPC fog,” explained Mr Briddon. “This can significantly reduce the total dose of CIPC required, but may require basic changes to store ventilation.”
An on-farm checklist poster has also been issued to growers to help them record their applications and ensure that they are keeping within the agreed limits. Harry Duncan from Glasgow University presented the findings from Potato Council-funded research to growers on a new way to keep stored potatoes sprout-free in extremely low residues, by using CIPC vapour.
“Current methods involve fogging a store to distribute the particles of the active ingredient,” explained Dr Duncan. “If we can master distribution of the CIPC vapour we could achieve continuous sprout-suppression from a much lower amount of active ingredient. It would be a CIPC regime that is safer to apply and one that leaves minimal residues.”
The Potato Storage day is part of the Potatoes Council’s Summer of Knowledge campaign, launched to deliver the latest technical and regulatory information direct to growers. Best practice information is available free of charge to levy payers. Call The Storage Advice Line free on 0800 02 82 111 or visit www.potato.org.uk/publications for more.
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